Eddie Alvarez doesn’t see himself betting against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319, but that doesn’t mean he’s counting out Dricus Du Plessis.
Emanating from the United Center in Chicago, Du Plessis will put his middleweight world title on the line against ‘Borz’ on August 16 in a bout that seems to have the MMA world split down the middle. On one hand, you’ve got a champion who has repeatedly defied the odds. Then there’s Chimaev, an undefeated Chechen monster with 12 finishes against 14 total wins.
Who comes out on top is anyone’s guess, but ‘The Underground King’ finds himself leaning towards Chimaev ever-so slightly.
“I think it’s hard to bet against Chimaev for me,” Alvarez told Helen Yee. “The guy’s a powerhouse, but… Dricus is like this odd character for me. It doesn’t look aesthetically good, but he gets the job done. His conditioning is crazy. He finds a way regardless of how it looks.”
As it stands, Chimaev is a 2-to-1 favorite to leave Chi-Town with the 185-pound, while Du Plessis is a +160 underdog.
Of course, that’s a familiar spot for the South African, who opened as a dog in previous outings against Robert Whittaker, Sean Strickland, and Israel Adesanya.
Chimaev’s title shot against du Plessis has been a long time coming
As for Chimaev, it will be the Chechen’s first UFC title opportunity after earning big wins over the likes of Gilbert Burns, Kamaru Usman, and Robert Whittaker. In reality, Chimaev’s shot at gold should have come a while back, but a massive weigh-in gaffe in September 2022 prompted the promotion to push ‘Borz’ from welterweight to middleweight.
Since then, he’s added three more wins to his resume, landing as the third-ranked contender in the middleweight division, and scoring himself a highly anticipated showdown with Du Plessis.
